"Someone threw a brick through my window." She sounds calmer than she looks. "With a hex on it. It didn't work--the hex, I mean, it was more powerful than whoever drew it."

She sits, hunched.

"I know they're blustering. Do you think they're blustering? Just trying to make sure I don't tell anyone what I saw them doing. I don't think they'd have the guts to really hurt me. They want to pretend at being important and dangerous but they're no more powerful than I am."